Four council speaker hopefuls will ditch ‘good government’ forum

Common Cause Executive Director Susan Lerner took aim at four City Council speaker candidates over the perceived slight. (Jefferson Siegel/New York Daily News)

Several top candidates for speaker plan to skip a forum held by a top good government group — which doesn't deem that an example of very good government.

Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause, criticized four top candidates for the perch who sent her a letter indicating they'd be attending other forums, but not her group's.

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"It's a very interesting collusion, really, between the speaker candidates, limiting the scope of democratic participation and basically doing everything they can to limit the process to insiders," Lerner told the Daily News.

The form letter, addressed to "Whom It May Concerned," was signed by Council members Robert Cornegy, Mark Levine, Corey Johnson and Ritchie Torres.

"Regretfully, we, the undersigned, write to inform you that we will be unable to attend your forum," they wrote, going on to praise the "significant work your organizations do on behalf of New Yorkers."

The letter was signed by four speaker candidates — all current City Council members — including Corey Johnson (pictured). (Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)

It then outlines three events they have collectively committed to attending: a forum held by the National Action Network Tuesday night, and forums held by NY1 and City & State on Dec. 1

Lerner accused the members of "cherry-picking" and skipping events about issues they act on in the Council — like a human services forum that was scuttled, and whose organizers had hoped to asked questions at Common Cause's event. Only four members were at a forum held by the AARP Monday.

At least a dozen speaker's race forums have been planned this fall, with varying attendance. Lerner said her event only had heard back from two members that they planned to attend.

"They would say that they have appeared at enough debates," Lerner said. "But frankly, you know what they're indicating is that now the inside process is much more important than their accountability through public debate. And we would contest that."

City Councilman Mark Levine is also ducking out of the Common Cause forum. (Angus Mordant/for New York Daily News)

The speaker's race is the most inside-baseball election in the city — because it's open only to elected Council members, and even then heavily influenced by forces like county Democratic bosses and labor unions.

Torres defended his schedule.

"I would hardly call participating in two televised debates — something never done before — an attempt at limiting the process to insiders. To say nothing of the seven forums and screenings," he said in a statement. "Words like 'collusion' should be reserved for the authoritarian likes of Vladimir Putin, not Speaker candidates who wish to spend more time in their Districts."

Cornegy spokesman Charlie King also fired back at Lerner.

"For Susan Lerner to claim that forums sponsored by Rev. Sharpton, the NAACP , other groups of color or AARP and the elderly benefits 'insiders' is, unfortunately, based on misinformation," he said, adding that Cornegy would love to attend every forum "but there are many demands on his schedule each night and difficult decisions must be made on where to go."